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Surine and Slashy; their ongoing tale.
This is the continuing tale of Surine, a naive draenei discovering the world for the first time, and her trusted pet Slashy. Additions and changes will be made as regularly as possible. Surine's first job The Darkshore region was a sun deprived, gloomy place, Surine did not like it very much, although Slashy seemed to feel at ease. They had travelled a great distance already, never sleeping in the forest, since aggressive beasts lurked there all the time. They did not know the perils at first, and were quickly attacked when taking a shortcut through the woods. That night, they had eaten moonstalker steak. Surine had been worried for Slashy, the stalker had looked very much like her pet, and she felt… awkward when seeing the two of them battle it out while driving her arrows through the animal, there had been so much blood… Surine had never been a fighter. One would think so maybe, considering all she went through on Draenor, or the countless other planets they had attempted to inhabit. But she was always the draenei in the back, oblivious to the negativity around her, seeing the beauty in the unknown instead of fearing it. How things had changed since then. Now, she was killing animals, skinning them, removing their guts, and roasting them over a fire she herself had lit. Never in a thousand years did she consider ever being able to take care of herself in such a way. After that attack, they had always retreated to the beach after sunset, where it was reasonably safe. A dip in the ocean had been a bad idea, sea monsters lurked there, long necked creatures with tiny mouths but disproportionate giant teeth. Danger was everywhere, and slowly but surely, Surine was learning to be cautious. Sitting on the beach with Slashy, they went over their day. Or well… Surine was babbling to Slashy about the odd herbs they had encountered, the fish they had caught, the beings they had avoided, while Slashy just looked at her. Suddenly, Surine felt a painful jab in her toe, upon looking down, she noticed a crab quickly burrowing a hole in the sand before the draenei could catch it. Cursing she looked at her feet again, and noticed the worn down shoes. All her clothes had turned very ragged, and she became very aware of how dirty she looked. She examined her money pouch and found 25 silver. “That should be enough for an inn and some warm honey cakes right Slashy?” The animal merely titled her head when addressed, before resting it on her paws again. “Right!” said Surine determinedly, and before falling asleep, decided that tomorrow, they would travel back to Auberdine town, and find an inn. A bed would be a nice change from the sand which managed to crawl in the darndest places. “25 SILVER!! I am not running a charity here! Are you mad? You can get a bed yes, but no food, and the tiniest room only.” Surine was taken aback by this, all her money for one night? That could not be right. “Is there a cheaper inn around here?” “Cheaper? It will only get more costly once you travel on, you should see the prices in the Dun Morogh inns! Those are plain robbery they are.” She sighed. She had no idea what this place was he was talking about, but it did not seem promising at all. “Might I do some work for you? A bit of cleaning perhaps? Sell you some fine leather?” She asked pleadingly. “I do not need any leather and I have cleaning women thank you.” She turned around, disappointed, ready to head out again, when she saw an elven man beckoning her. Wearily she approached him. “Is there something I can help you with?” He smiled and said; “I think we can help each other Draenei. I have a job for you, it will pay well.” She did not trust him, but figured that hearing him out was little effort, she had nothing better to do anyway. “Okay, what would you have me do then?” He smiled and replied by giving her a scroll, she opened it and saw a drawing of something she had never seen before. “Kill it.” He said. She swallowed hard and started protesting. He lifted a finger and she fell silent. “This creature has killed one of the sentinels, it deserves its death, and believe me, it would not hesitate to kill you or one of yours either.” He dangled his money purse in front of her. Sighing heavily again, she tucked the scroll into her backpack, clacked her tongue, waited for Slashy to finish licking herself before answering her call, and headed out. Surine's first kill They headed along the coast silently, Slashy would sometimes look up at Surine, probably to check if she was still there since normally, she did not stop blabbing on about the most inane of things. Not today though. She was deep in thought. Killing something… she looked at the scroll again. Okay, it was not quite human, or like any race she had seen before, but it was not an animal either. She would not eat it afterwards, the only reason she would kill this … thing, was because she would receive money for it. An assassin! Always she had disliked those that killed merely for their own financial gain, and now she would turn into one of them. She assured herself it would only be this once, she would find some sort of job, just this once. If only she had known how far her money would take her, which was not very far apparently, she would have taken more when she left Exodar. She shook her head… .too late for regrets now. She gently petted Slashy, when she spotted a group of unidentifiable shapes in the distance. She continued staring until the images grew somewhat clearer, they looked like the drawing, she would have to move closer. Surine started towards the forest, crossbow at the ready. Slashy stayed close to her, and they stalked from one tree to another, slowly narrowing the distance between them and the settlement. The journey, although short, was tiring. Surine was not used to the strain of keeping this quiet, of keeping her head down, and watching her step. When she arrived finally, she let out a tiny gasp. A group of odd, fish-like creatures, with swollen slimy bodies stood there. Well, they were not actually standing, they were moving clumsily, in a wobbly way almost. She felt frightened, she did not see the one in the drawing, it was slightly different from those in her view. In an attempt to spot him, she moved a bit closer. All of a sudden a horn was blown, from the water, emerged three of the creatures, spears in hand, all rushing towards her. Slashy immediately dashed out of her sight to attack the offenders, and she panicked. “COME BACK! SLASHY NO” She ran after her, which was incredibly stupid as this just meant aiding her attackers in getting to her. One of them turned slightly when noticing her pet, and hurled itself at Slashy. Surine clumsily loaded her crossbow and shot two arrows before the other two assailants reached her. Her sword was out quick and she pierced one’s foot while running backwards, away from the other, and shooting her arrows. The sound of them splitting air and landing in soft, slime-like tissue, was all she heard. It fell. The other had gotten over the hurt in its foot, and started for her again. She did not care, she was looking around to see if she could spot Slashy, and there she was, her paws bleeding, wounds around her nose, Surine’s heart broke. Without thinking she rushed over, loading and unloading her crossbow as she moved, with a steady hand, never slipping, she had never before been this efficient. When she reached Slashy, she noticed the attacker being near-death, she dealt the final blow without thinking, and quickly turned around, just in time to see the final one hurl itself forward, she stuck out her hand, and felt goo dripping over it as the arrow pierced through the creature’s belly. She turned to Slashy, who was wincing in pain. As she knelt beside her, a loud sound came from behind her, almost as if someone was shouting underwater, but clearer. It was the thing from the drawing. Her eyes widened as she considered her pet, lying there heavily wounded. She loaded her crossbow again, and started welcoming the being with a rain of arrows, constantly moving backwards, loading, unloading, loading, unloading, she was in a trance. The doubt about killing had completely gone from her, this was about defence, not hers, but Slashy’s who lay there helpless. She could feel her arm growing tired though, a painful cramp crawling up from her calf to her thigh, her throat grew raspy from exhaustion and heavy breathing, and then… he fell. She rushed over and noticed his chest still moving, he was breathing still. She lifted her sword and plunged it in his gut. She had to go…get out, before more came. She arrived near Slashy and took out her blanket, rolled Slashy onto it, and started pulling it fiercely, into the woods, away from the beach. Occasionally she heard a painful yelp coming from the animal, but this had to be done. When she eventually dared looking back, she saw nothing, she halted and fell next to her pet… so tired. She looked at Slashy, noticing the dry blood and scarring on her snout, wounds ran along her body, blood trickling out off all of them. She hugged the animal, silently muttering; “Don’t die Slashy, I’m so sorry, don’t die, I promise I will never do this again, I’m so sorry, please don’t die.” Gently rocking the animal back and forth, she took out her water pouch and tore of a piece of the blanket. Softly dabbing Slashy’s wound, she sang to her pet, a song that was sung to her over a thousand years ago, when she was still a child. Surine fell asleep, exhaustion took over, every part of her body ached, and they lay there, together, their chests moving simultaneously, both dreaming of days where life seemed easier. Surine woke up, something was touching her hand. She sat up quickly and looked down to see Slashy nuzzling it. Joy filled her, almost the same she had felt when she got the pet, she laughed through her tears of relief. They were still together.”I promise you this will never happen again Slashy, we will find other ways to make money, this will never happen again.” She hugged her, tightly, making sure this was all real, that everything was okay. “We will eat now, you will stay here, I will find an animal and present you with the biggest steak you have ever seen!” Happy, she stalked deeper into the forest, smiling from ear to ear, filled with glee. Surine’s first dwarf After the incident, Surine decided it was time to get out of Darkshore, and they moved on. The first few days, Surine was very protective of Slashy, fishing up their food, not allowing her to hunt. When the pet started killing squirrels very ostentatiously, Surine understood that Slashy was trying to show her something, and carefully ventured into the woods again. They were trekking to Ashenvale, she had heard of a town called Astranaar, and was very curious. Moving slowly, they made their way along, staying on the road as much as possible. Surine was almost back to her old self, babbling about everything she could think of, while Slashly peered at her with a look… Surine chose to believe it was amusement, or interest. When suddenly Slashy stopped. The draenei gave her pet a playful nudge, but she would not move, her ears perking up as if she was trying to catch a sound. Listening to the wind, Surine tried to catch it too, but to no avail. Suddenly Slashy started moving towards the woods, guiding Surine, who could now here some sort of grumbling, the sound of an animal sleeping while having violent dreams perhaps? The grumbling turned into grunting for a second, and then a loud snoring sound. Fear came over the draenei, not wanting to encounter a horrible beast and again getting into a near-fatal fight. Upon moving closer, she could see a large shape in the distance, a hump of flesh if you will. She picked up a stick, and ordered her pet to stay behind. The… shape was cloaked by the shadows, and Surine could not make out what it was, it was covered in cloth apparently, so it did not seem likely that this was an animal. Maybe a wild man, surviving in the forest, excommunicated from its… tribe. Surine sneaked closer and try to identify its race, but failed as, what seemed to be the head, was turned away from her. She took the stick, and gently poked the creature, curiosity having taken the upper hand, and fear being subdued by that. The creature let out a loud snarl, and Surine poked it again, until it jumped up! “OI! Wut ye think yer doin’ ye bleedin’ son o’ a mutated ox.” It spoke! Surine looked baffled, while Slashy sprinted to stand beside her, taking on a defensive stance, trying to look threatening. The creature turned to her and spoke again, in a more soothing tone; “Ow lass… dinnae see ye there. Ah dinnae reac’ well tae bein’ poked ye see.” “I… I apologise… I thought you were…” Surine swallowed “nevermind.” “Ye though’ ah was wha’? Ah’m a dwarf lass! Nothin’ else!” Surine had never seen a dwarf before, she had heard of them, read about them, but she had never imagined they could bring forth such a sound. “Ye okay lass?” “Erm… yes, I am fine, I must say I never encountered someone of your race before, I did not know you lived around these parts.” The dwarf laughed loudly. “Ah dinnae lass! Ah just visit. Ye know, these elven lads an’ lasses, they dinnae drink! Ah know! It be a remarkable thing. So when ah get bored, I come ‘ere, an’ ah show them wha’ they be missin’.” Surine raised her eyebrows. “But there aren’t any elves here, you are in the middle of the woods.” “Ah well, yeah. Ah suspect they got offended, it happens. An’ then they throw me out. Ah usually dinnae remember.” The dwarf shrugged. Surine couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wha’ ‘bout you lass?” “I just try to get by, see a bit of the world. I try to make money, without getting myself in too much danger.” “Ah money lass! Ah might jus’ know tae perfect way tae make som’!” Surine looked interested, this was, after all, what she had been hoping for. She knew there were heroes in this world, those who fought against forces in Northrend, those who battled for the freedom of all alliance races, but she had discovered, that she could not be a hero. She could not put Slashy at risk, and she had to admit, that battle without her pet at her side, would be a lonely battle indeed. “Would I have to … hurt people?” The dwarf smirked. “No lass! Ye’d ‘ave tae do laundry, fetch books… lotsa books. An’ milk… lotsa milk. It be borin’ but it pays well.” ‘That sounds quite interesting. Would I be working for you?” “Ye be workin’ fer the wee lass, ah can introduce ye if ye want. It be a bit much fer me alone ye see, me back be achin’, so ah would like a bit o’ help, ye seem tae be tall an’ strong at least. ” Surine smiled, a genuine smile, a smile for a stranger, that was a first. She would like to meet this wee lass yes, and upon saying so, the dwarf let out a sharp whistle, a ram appeared from behind a tree, and the two set out, on what would be, a very bumpy travel. If there were a thing like becoming ‘road sick’, Surine had definitely discovered it. Surine’s first gnome “Ah, ‘ere we are!” Finally! Surine was terribly relieved, trotting on a ram, was definitely not her favourite way of travel, and she had been worried about Slashy, running beside the ram, one sidestep of the fat animal, and her poor pet would get trampled. They had ridden for a long time, rested at inns, she had seen many towns, but sadly did not have time to explore indepth. Selta, the dwarf, wanted to get on with it, and left little time for rest. In the evening, she would binge on ale, fall into a deep sleep, but surprisingly, would wake up before dawn had even broken, poking Surine awake. The only places Surine did have an opportunity to discover, were libraries. Every time they encountered one, Selta would enter, and they would come out with as many books as the poor ram could carry without collapsing. Nevertheless Surine had enjoyed the trip, some landscapes were simply dazzling, she had travelled on a boat again which she was beginning to like, and it was a nice change from travelling on the back of a ram. She had seen many humans as well, she felt they were rather plain looking, and hadn’t caught one smiling. Well, except for the one that got into a drinking match with Selta, but as the green tone on his face appeared, the smile disappeared. And now they were here. In front of her was a giant keep, banners flying in the wind left quite an impression on her, and she could see soldiers patrolling atop the roof, bows in hand, at the ready. A horse quickly approached as they went closer, seemingly coming out of nowhere. “Ah Selta, it is you, she is not pleased, you best hurry.” “Lad, is she ever? Ah can handle the wee lass fine.” He chuckled. “I would not let her hear you say that, and you well know she has a way of finding out everything.” Selta shrugged and handed over a flask. “As ye requested lad, dinnae drink tae much a’ once, it be strong stuff.” She winked, and the tall human cleared the way, while shouting an order over his shoulder. The giant wooden doors opened simultaneously, and Selta entered, encouraging Surine to follow her and not be shy. The draenei was taken aback by the grandeur of it all. Hundreds of people could live here! She saw servants scurrying about, invisible to the plate-clad dwarves that wandered the halls, laughing while telling jokes which Surine would never even consider repeating. She noticed an elven huntress in the corner, being wooed by what looked like a human, while giggling and trying to act uninterested, although the blush on her cheeks told a different story. “Lass!” Selta shouted. “Up ‘ere! Leave yer pet outside, ye'll be back soon." Surine looked down at Slashy, unsure of what to do now, but gave her some fish and gently told her to remain there, that she would be back later. She was too curious to stop now. They entered a wide corridor. Paintings decorated the walls. An elven couple, the woman wearing very little and the man looking at her with a tender expression. A woman alone, in battle stance, daggers in her hand, poison dripping from them, a face as if it was made of steel. And then, a tiny creature, she had never seen one of those, it looked like… an old child. But Surine knew this from books, so it must be a gnome, the tinkers her teachers spoke of with some disdain, since tinkers did not craft spaceships. The gnome looked stern, her hair high, as to make up for her lack in height, a red dress decorated with golden flames. For someone so tiny, she did look impressive. A woman in a white dress stood before a large wooden door, leaves were carved a long the edges, and a silver bow served as a handle. “Could ye tell her we be ‘ere.” The woman frowned at Selta and uttered something about being terribly late, but knocked on the door gently any way. “Enter!” A squeaky voice came from the room, it was an attempted shout, but still did not leave an impression. Selta opened the door, and pulled Surine in with her. “You are very late Selta, yes, I know it was you, I smelled the ale as soon as you walked through the front gate.” The person to whom the squeaky voice belonged to, turned around. The gnome from the painting, seeing her, the real her, made her appear even tinier than in the picture. Still, her expression warned any not to mock, it was not very welcoming. She looked around the room, and somehow, it did not look like it belonged to the gnome. The were a lot of cupboards, all of varying height, chiselled with images of elves, various weaponry, but also trees, animals, it was a little… over the top. The bed appeared extremely large for such a small person. “Who do you bring Selta?” The gnome peered at Surine suspiciously. “Ah thought we could do with a wee bit more help lass, so ah brought this tall lass tae do just tha’.” “You thought we could do with more help? How considerate.” Her tone of voice was not very earnest, and Surine started thinking that coming here was a bad idea. “Leave us Selta.” The gnome waved her hand dismissively when Selta opened her mouth, and the dwarf headed for the door. Surine looked at her pleadingly, but Selta merely grinned. “So, care to tell me your name?” Surine tried to not look uncomfortable, but she did not feel confident that she was succeeding; “I am Surine.” “Okay I guess that will have to do. I am Saranini Senterspring, I lead this band, called the Vanguard of Valor” The gnome nodded. Surine just looked at her. “You do not know the Vanguard of Valor?” The draenei had a feeling she should feel ashamed that she indeed did not know them, or that at least the gnome considered it to be a rather large gap in her knowledge, but she shook her head nonetheless, she did not like lying. “Fair enough.” The gnome hopped down. “We are a military organisation, completely self sufficient I might add.” Saranini beamed with pride as she walked over to the window and beckoned Surine. She peered outside, and there were fields as far as her eye could see. “We grow our own food as much as possible.” Carts rolled down the paths that ran through the field. “We trade the excess for meat, we used to have a butcher on the grounds, but some of our members got a tad bit queasy, and since we have plenty to trade, it was not a real issue. The barn over there.” Saranini pointed to a building in the distance. “That was where they brought the animals, now it is used to grow herbs. I’ll give you one piece of advice, during hot days, when the sun is glowing in the sky and you feel your scalp burning, do not go in there, you might come out feeling very… giddy.” Saranini smiled a knowing smile, but Surine had no idea what she was talking about. “Will I be working the fields?” the draenei asked. Saranini shook her head. “You will be working for me, only tend to my specific needs. Follow.” The gnome strode over to a door in her room, connecting to another room, which had no other door, thus could not be entered from the corridor. The room was very large, but fairly empty, along the walls ran shelves, filled with books. There was one large wooden cabinet in the corner, and a small wooden desk in the middle of the room. The difference with the bedroom was striking, no decorations, no fancy tapestry, no embroidered curtains, no windows even. “The first room, and only room, I have decorate myself.” The gnome scoffed. “My predecessors were elves you see, and they quite liked silly things, things of beauty I suppose, beauty in their eyes. One day I will fix that, but it will do fine for now. This is my study room you might say, not many are allowed here, Selta and you will be the only ones that can enter, tidy up and such, and my Grand Marshal of course, I will tell you about her later.” She pointed to the cabinet in the corner. “That, however, is off limits, you do not even so much as touch it. Believe me, I will know if you have, you will never be able to open it, and to attempt to do so… well, it can cause quite nasty burn marks.” “You can see I have an extensive collection of books, this will be one of your tasks, as it is Selta’s, to find me the most exquisite of books, but not just that, I seek knowledge, information, any information. History will constantly be remoulded in memories of people, in stories told, but books written at a certain point in time, they can reflect truth, words on paper do not change through the years. It is important to remember that.” Surine peered at the books curiously, she liked to read, and the sometimes dust covered books, looked nothing like the ones she had read over and over again, by lack of new ones. “Come, I will show you around and introduce you to some people.” The gnome said in a commanding voice, and Surine hurried out of the room, regretfully. Category:Stories